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fool the mind rather than the eye. And that goes for sculpture too” (Picasso qtd. in Gilot 296).

Again Sabartes told the story of Picasso constructing a human form in outline from some fragments of straw, explaining that first Picasso had to discover it, to foresee how it could be used and be capable of receiving inspiration to create. (Sabartes 24).

Lhote described how Picasso used his memory of forms in creating “But this craftsman's flights of fancy do not have their origin solely in the unconscious, as his usual interpreters - who are sometimes of astounding credulity - would have us believe. His mind is a prodigious reservoir of already invented forms, an encyclopedia kept carefully up to date, and it feeds his inexhaustible invention with reminiscences of the most famous historical creations, from the Altamira caves to the studio of Arcimboldo” (Lhote 213).

in passing, the impression produced by it stirred up in him different ideas. His brain apparently received the poetic emotion which, in the service of his own feelings, produced a version of the bird much more telling than truth itself. For his artificial owl is the product of an imagination "in the state of grace" (Sabartes 24).

Sabartes gave another example “Picasso, who saw me constantly, knew that I was not the same without a cigar between my teeth. (In Paris during World War II tobacco was scarce.) This was enough to cause him to envision the image of a cigar in a piece of wood. A few strokes of oil paint performed the "miracle" of suggesting the cigar I lacked. Had not the imagination of Picasso intervened, the little stick would have been thrown forever in the fire or on the trash heap. Something memorable had been created” (Sabartes 24).

Gilot asked Picasso why he troubled himself to incorporate bits and pieces of junk into his sculptures instead of starting from scratch using whatever material he chose to build up his forms. Picasso responded “There's a good reason for doing it this way," he told me. "The material itself, the form and texture of those pieces, often gives me the key to the whole sculpture. The shovel in which I saw the vision of the tail- feathers of the crane gave me the idea of doing a crane. Aside from that it's not that I need that ready-made element, but I achieve reality through the use of metaphor. My sculptures are plastic metaphors. It's the same principle as in painting. I've said that a painting shouldn't be a trompe-l'oeil but a trompe-l'esprit. I'm out to fool the mind rather than the eye. And that goes for sculpture too” (Picasso qtd. in Gilot 296).

Again Sabartes told the story of Picasso constructing a human form in outline from some fragments of straw, explaining that first Picasso had to discover it, to foresee how it could be used and be capable of receiving inspiration to create. (Sabartes 24).

Lhote described how Picasso used his memory of forms in creating “But this craftsman's flights of fancy do not have their origin solely in the unconscious, as his usual interpreters - who are sometimes of astounding credulity - would have us believe. His mind is a prodigious reservoir of already invented forms, an encyclopedia kept carefully up to date, and it feeds his inexhaustible invention with reminiscences of the Furthermore, the first issue of "Minotaure" was also illustrated with a series of Picasso drawings inspired by the central panel of Grunewald's Isenheim Altarpiece representing the Crucifixion. Picasso had already treated this theme in a painting of 1930 and reverted to it in 1932. Picasso said to his friend Brassai, the photographer “I love that painting, and I tried to interpret it. But as soon as I began to draw it became something else entirely.” Brassi commented “I mention this series for a specific purpose, since it was the first time, to my knowledge, that a great painting had touched off the creative spark in him and he had concentrated his energies on a masterpiece, in order to extort its secret” (Brassai qtd. in Leymarie 246).

Like Picasso's friend Brassai, persons commenting on Picasso's work have not fully realized the extent of his relationship with art history. All report the most famous historical creations, from the Altamira caves to the studio of Arcimboldo” (Lhote 213).

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